Golden Arches
by Blue Mage Quartet
Summary: Sherry Birkin, Jake Muller, and one post-mission evening at a famous fast-food restaurant. There's a first time for everything, right?


"This is really your first time here?" Sherry asks, eyes wide in both incredulity and excitement; she is almost bobbing back and forth in her seat, face bright with an exuberant smile that is so very Sherry. She absentmindedly dips a fry awash in salt in ketchup and _intends _on taking a bit but misses her mouth in her giddiness. The ketchup drips off and lands in her lap, staining her white cotton shirt.

"Shit," she looks down and frowns. Jake cannot help but crack a smile at his partner even though his body is exhausted from a search and retrieval mission the two had completed just hours before. Details had arisen concerning one of Ada- _Carla's, _Jake mentally corrects himself- Neo-Umbrella labs and Sherry had wrangled Jake into commissioned work for the D.S.O. and they had touched down at the laboratory for a sweep, disposing of a few errant J'avo and gathering what files and evidence they could.

_Which wasn't a lot._ Jake thinks sourly, but his mood couldn't help but brighten at his best friend's pure happiness over something as simple as McDonalds.

"Edonia isn't exactly the hot button choice for businesses to come and set up shop," Jake replies as he tentatively tried a bit of what Sherry had exuberantly referred to as "_McNuggets."_ The tray of food between the two probably had more calories and carbohydrates than any kind of food the mercenary had seen or eaten before.

_"_Mom struggled enough putting food on the table every day. I don't think we could've afforded stuff like this." Jake says quietly, almost as an afterthought. Sherry opens her mouth to speak, apologize, maybe; her smile thins a little and she looks almost deflated as she cannot find words to speak. Jake's mother had struggled to provide for herself and her son and even the cheapest of fast food would've likely been hard to acquire, not even mentioning the warring political landscape of Edonia.

Sherry adjusts the sky blue scarf always wrapped around her neck and looks forlornly at the splotchy red stain on the front of her shirt. "Mom and Dad were awful cooks."

The statement abruptly comes out of nowhere and Sherry does not know why but she is rambling.

"When they remembered to even eat dinner. Most nights of the week they would completely forget about eating or they would check our refrigerator and be surprised to find nothing in it. They almost never went grocery shopping. I think they thought eating was an inconvenience. Research was always the first priority."

"Sherry..."

Sherry tries to stop herself talking but the words come unbidden. "I can't remember how many nights a week our family dinners consisted of this stuff."

She stares hard at the food on her plate and suddenly tears are on her cheeks. "Mom always insisted on bringing home the fish sandwich. I was allergic to pollock. She always looked so heartbroken when I said I wasn't hungry."

Jake wants to reach across and hug his partner, console her in some manner. The few other customers in the lobby are starting to stare and Jake hates them.

"Jake, I'm sorry," Sherry manages to stammer, wiping at her cheeks and taking shuddering breaths. "Here this is your first time getting to try McDonald's and I go and ruin it."

He chuckles and smiles in return, "Don't worry about it, Supergirl. To be honest? Not all that great of a first impression."

Sherry brightens up and giggles, covering her mouth with her hand. "American cuisine in all its processed, fatty glory."

Jake reaches over and cups Sherry's smaller hands with his larger ones. "Well I, for one, am glad I got to share this moment with you."

Sherry smiles appreciatively, her eyes flickering over to the counter. She leans forward and suddenly her nose is centimeters from Jake's. "How do you feel about a shake?"

Before Jake can answer Sherry is already back at the seat, one vanilla shake in hand and change jingling in her back pocket. She proffers one of two straws to Jake.

He bemusedly takes it and looks at Sherry in bewilderment. "Just one? How're we going to eat this?"

"Well..." she says, the smile forming on her face almost conspiratory and the glint in her eyes a mixture of mischievous and honest, "I thought it could be another moment we could share."

And while the ice cream was certainly refreshing and sweet, Jake thought spending this time with Sherry was the sweetest thing that night.


End file.
